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Which Is More Toxic: Marijuana Or Alcohol? The Debate Rages On

The National Institute on Drug Abuse issued statement attempting to clear up confusion caused by a Marijuana Policy Project ad which claimed that marijuana is less toxic than alcohol. "Claiming that marijuana is less toxic than alcohol cannot be substantiated since each possess their own unique set of risks and consequences for a given individual," the agency said.

As expected, the Marijuana Policy Project offered a rebuttal. “The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reports no marijuana-use-only deaths each year and there has never been a marijuana overdose death in history,” director of communications Mason Tvert told the New York Daily News. “It reports tens of thousands of people die from alcohol use alone each year and hundreds die from acute overdose.”

PolitiFact intervened to settle the matter. Examining statisctics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the fact-checkers compared 41,682 alcohol-related deaths to none for marijuana. PolitiFact also spoke to Dr. Richard Gable, whose eight-year study on recreational drug use aligned with the Marijuana Policy Project's claims.

"No drug is good for teenagers," he explained, though he noted that "when it comes to the chances of immediate death by chemical toxicity, marijuana is about a hundred times less toxic than alcohol or cocaine." We're not advocating drug use or alcohol abuse, but if you are going to indulge, why not just do it in moderation?